I don't understand it. I love battered fried zucchini (and even worse it's usually bad for you because deep fried). And I don't know why I crave Brussels sprouts (or most cabbage) but I do.

I bet there's some broccoli haters here. (Yep, I love it.) Has anybody tried the broccoli relative from Asia, kai lan or gai lan? I like that too. It's similar to broccoli (both Brassica family) but it has smaller buds and is commonly served with the leaves as a leafy vegetable (with buds). If you hate broccoli you'll hate this too, even more if you hate spinach.

i find your posts to be fresh, informative and stimulating, gc. i enjoy following and reading them. in this one you are seemingly gleefully helping broccoli haters to find yet more foods to hate...and spinach haters too. i love it!!

Thank you vitauta for your kind comments. I am very enthusiastic about cooking and I'm a veteran foodie too. I'm currently in a situation where I have little/no access to cooking and all I can do is talk about it, and I appreciate the forum for proving a... um... forum.

I've enjoyed vegetables much more as I've gotten older. I used to hate them as a kid, and didn't much appreciate them in my 20s and 30s. As I've aged I've somehow not only become more enthusiastic about enjoying vegetables but have also come to appreciate what I call the "color coding" theory of vegetables, the basis being that vegetables have different anti-oxidants, that anti-oxidants are good for your health and longevity, and that a wide variety of anti-oxidants are better for you than a single type, and that the color apparently varies from different anti-oxidants. The sum of this theory is that you should eat as many different colors of vegetables as you can.

Not to beat a dead horse to death, but vegetables are generally low in calories and high in fiber, both additional benefits of eating lots of vegetables. This is one of the reasons I enjoy eating Asian foods so much. (Although I mostly skip the rice except as "seasoning," a turn-about on the usual Asian cuisine which has meat being the seasoning for a large portion of rice or noodles.)

i love virtually all vegetables too. my main problem with veggies is their cost. by choice, i rarely use canned vegetables. most varieties are garbage imo. frozen veggies are my mainstay, with varying degrees of success. i'm really not thrilled with most frozen varieties, either. which leaves fresh vegetables that i cannot afford to buy regularly, except for the economical varieties. possibly the fact that they are somewhat inaccessible to me, is what makes them even more dear to me. a day that i bring home butter leaf lettuce and arugula feels like a celebration, like winning a prize!! of course, i could afford much more fresh vegetables, except for my equally strong passion for red meats and poultry! :( not to mention those rock bottom necessities that insist on preferential treatment...then there's my penchant for aged and specialty cheeses, good bakery breads, and so it goes....

You'd have to travel some to find it on your plate. Chunchurria (or chunchulla, depending on which region of South America you're in), is small intestines of pig, sometimes cow, cooked, sometimes deep fried. The unique flavor follows from the fact that the natural contents are not removed.

I don't understand it. I love battered fried zucchini (and even worse it's usually bad for you because deep fried). And I don't know why I crave Brussels sprouts (or most cabbage) but I do.

I bet there's some broccoli haters here. (Yep, I love it.) Has anybody tried the broccoli relative from Asia, kai lan or gai lan? I like that too. It's similar to broccoli (both Brassica family) but it has smaller buds and is commonly served with the leaves as a leafy vegetable (with buds). If you hate broccoli you'll hate this too, even more if you hate spinach.

And how were they? Opinions vary wildly, although we mostly see U.S. commentary, and it's hard to tell how much is just knowing what they are and unfamiliarity. But it does sound like they are (that wonderful phrase) an acquired taste.

__________________"Kitchen duty is awarded only to those of manifest excellence..." - The Master, Dogen

And how were they? Opinions vary wildly, although we mostly see U.S. commentary, and it's hard to tell how much is just knowing what they are and unfamiliarity. But it does sound like they are (that wonderful phrase) an acquired taste.

They were pan fried in lard. Outside a bit crispy, inside a bit chewy. Taste is more like regular pork. But I am not squimish about what eat.

The soup in the back ground is Sopa de Raiz y Criadillas "Root Soup with testicles". It was one of the best things I have had in a long time. Serve it to someone in a fancy place and they would brag about how good it was. Until you told them what was in it.